Families with small children tend to acquire a wide variety of specialized equipment for transporting their children from place to place. In particular, car seats are required for transporting children in vehicles over long distances or during inclement weather, and strollers are required for transporting children locally over shorter distances. Often, a stroller is carried to a destination in the back of a vehicle. Upon arriving at the destination, the children are transferred out of the vehicle and into the stroller. It is therefore common that strollers are designed to be collapsible or foldable so as to fit easily within the trunk of a vehicle, or for transport on public transit or aircraft, etc.
Multiple-child strollers, such as for instance double or triple strollers, are known for transporting more than one child at a time. One type of multiple-child stroller provides two or more seating areas in a permanent side-by-side or tandem arrangement. Of course, such strollers do not permit children to be moved along separate paths and cannot be separated if only single child transport is desired. In view of these limitations, a family often resorts to purchasing a multiple-child stroller for transporting more than one child at a time, as well as a single stroller for those times when only single child transport is desired. Such families not only incur additional expense, but must also store a plurality of strollers and must dispose of the multiple-child stroller, and then eventually the single stroller, as the children age.
Another type of multiple-child stroller is based on separable, individual strollers that can be coupled together to form a side-by-side unit, and that can be decoupled when single child transport is desired. Examples of such tandem coupling approaches are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2008/0179863 to Schonfeld, U.S. Pat. No. 4,805,938 to Redmond et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,522,121 to Fraynd et al. These coupling systems for joining two strollers have used elongated releasable clamps or other elongated connectors to couple the strollers. The resulting width of such designs generally is greater than standard door widths, limiting the utility thereof. Moreover, the clamping devices are bulky and not conveniently stored during separate operation of the strollers, and/or separate storage of detached wheels is required when the strollers are operated in a coupled-together mode. In addition, the system that is disclosed by Schonfeld requires the rear wheels of each stroller to be spaced relatively closely together, so that when the individual strollers are coupled together the inside rear wheel of one stroller does not interfere with the inside rear wheel of the other stroller. Although the strollers are likely to be stable when coupled together, they are also likely to be far less stable, and therefore subject to tipping, when used separately. In particular, the relatively closely spaced rear wheels of the stroller are located below the center of weight of the child and close to the handle. The front stroller wheels, which are more widely spaced apart than the rear wheels, are not likely to provide sufficient stabilization when the stroller is being pushed over uneven or soft ground surfaces, since the front wheels of a stroller often come out of contact with the ground surface under these conditions.
UK Patent Application GB 2,413,311 to Naseby describes a system whereby two strollers may be closely coupled together to form a side-by-side double stroller. In particular, the front and rear wheels and the handle along one side of a first stroller are removed, and the resulting exposed stubs are inserted into corresponding brackets along one side of a second stroller, so as to couple the two strollers together. Although this system reduces the overall width of the coupled strollers compared to the above-mentioned systems, it also requires separate storage of detached parts and the coupling/decoupling procedure is awkward. The stroller that is disclosed by Naseby is better suited to being used either as a single stroller or as a double stroller for prolonged periods of time, since rapid conversion between coupled and decoupled conditions is hindered by the need to remove, store and reattach multiple stroller parts.
UK Patent Application GB 2,373,484 to Sear et al. discloses yet another system whereby two strollers may be closely coupled together to form a side-by-side double stroller. In particular, to connect two strollers together one side of each stroller is equipped with a rail extending from the front to the rear of the stroller. The shapes of the respective rails are such that one rail mates and interlocks with the other rail. To attach the two strollers together requires the user to unlock the front and rear wheels of one of the strollers, retract them and lock them in the retracted position, to align the rails of each stroller, and then to hold one stroller still whilst pushing the other stroller backwards until the two are locked together. In addition to being awkward to use, the rails extending from the front to the rear of the stroller prevent the stroller from being folded for storage or transport. Further, the rail system employed by Sear et al. is prone to fouling by pebbles, sand and other debris that may be kicked up into the rails due to their close proximity to the wheels and ground surface.
Of course, in addition to simply providing a suitable structure for coupling two strollers together, it is also necessary to consider a variety of other factors relating to safety and convenience of use. In particular, prior art brake systems for strollers may prove to be inadequate or unworkable when two individual strollers are coupled together to form a unitary structure. For instance, removing or relocating parts of the strollers in order to couple them together may prevent a prior art brake system from operating properly. In addition, the brake mechanism of either stroller should be sufficiently strong to prevent both strollers from moving when coupled together, and should engage reliably.
Another notable shortcoming of the prior art multi-child strollers is the lack of adaptable seating systems. In particular, the prior art strollers provide two seats that are suitable for toddler age children, but lack suitable seating to accommodate newborn children and pre-toddlers. Thus, families with a toddler and a newborn may still need to purchase a separate stroller in order to safely accommodate the newborn. Of course, even when both children can be accommodated in one of the prior art multi-child strollers, still the ability to adjust the orientation and/or the inclination of the seats is limited.
It would be advantageous to provide a stroller system that overcomes at least some of the above-mentioned limitations of the prior art.